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Well here we are again fellow Spurs fans, ‘Silly Season’ for transfer stories, and we have not had such a doozie like this Modric saga since Dimitar Berbatov had an all-nighter with Daniel Levy and Alex Ferguson. Real Madrid have rejected a ‘final offer’ of €35million (£28million or $50million for U.S. fans) for the player dubbed as the lynchpin of Spurs’ midfield, Luka Modrić. I’m only slightly unsure about where I stand with this situation.

We are soon to be rid of an unhappy player so that there’s no mass disruption within the changing rooms. Well, maybe Van Der Vaart and Sandro would still duel with twisted-up towels, but I’m talking about disruption of the team’s morale. The money, whatever may be agreed [estimated to be over £30m] would go some way towards equipping us with the gap we have upfront. The space between Peter Crouch’s legs used to account for that until he signed for Stoke. Adebayor is more of a holding centre forward than an actual striker, Defoe cannot possibly fill the striker position every game; and many fans still don’t trust Kane and Coulibaly as far as they can throw them, although, the youth players’ 0-6 mauling of Southend United should have curried some more favour with fans.

Maybe Modric’s transfer money could then be put in Daniel Levy’s Very Rainy/Flooded Day Fund instead. Many say at least one more striker is required to increase options upfront. They are correct.

I’m here to offer some ‘retrospective views’ on this Modric deal.

I’m struggling to see why Madridistas wanted Levy to accept the ‘final offer’ from Real Madrid to transfer Modric from one white/blanco shirt to another. It’s rather paltry considering how Spurs got the Croatian playmaker the exposure to English and European football, not to mention his undisputed passing accuracy and his impact on a match,

The young [and still upcoming] Leandro is only worth £3million less than Madrid’s previous offer for Modric which was £23m. What made the offer more insulting is the fact that the boot was on the other foot for Madrid a little while ago. Their price tag on midfielder Nuri Sahin (currently on-loan at Liverpool) put German club Hoffenheim off. Yet they expected Spurs to lower the value of Modric to suit them. They wouldn’t dream of reducing Cristiano Ronaldo’s value by 1/3 would they. Madrid seem to be using their reputation to try and push Tottenham around in the transfer market. Levy has spearheaded the defence for comparatively ‘smaller’ clubs who are tired of it. It seems like Madrid were in a glass house and started throwing stones.

Madrid cannot, on one end, offer heavily discounted amounts for such talented players from other clubs while hiking up prices of their own players on the other end – I think the famous English idiom of choice here is called ‘having your cake and eating it’. It’s blatant hypocrisy from Real Madrid’s representatives.
Madrid claim they really want Modric but as money talks, it doesn’t look like they’re trying too hard and so it seems like Modric isn’t as vital to Madrid’s progress as first thought. Rather, they are trying to ‘peacock’ their way to a cheaper price using their ‘We’re Real Madrid – Deal with it’ mantra. They aren’t exactly paupers and so would definitely pay the full asking price of £40m if they wanted Modric that desperately. The ball was in their court/net/goalline-technology pilot test, whatever you want to call it.

If the above theory was too conspiracy-like for you, then how about this one:

Levy was trying to ensure Spurs get what they deserve for giving him exposure to the Premier League and European (world-renowned) competitions. There are performance-bonuses which need paying to Zagreb so that’s what the extra money on top may have been for.

Also, I don’t buy into this ‘Modric and Levy had a gentleman’s agreement’ hoo-hah.
Their agreement was if Modric wanted to leave in the future for a ‘bigger club’, Levy would not stand in his way…but then Modric penned an improved six-year deal (doh!). Levy has allowed Madrid to negotiate a transfer for Modric. Agreement fulfilled. He didn’t promise Modric that he’ll be able to tie up a deal.

When a player signs a legally binding contract with the chairman, he too shall not go back on it. Contract means that the player is required to play for the team at all matches when needed unless out through injury, compassionate, etc. leave. I am fully aware of the theory that contracts are worth less than the paper they’re written on nowadays, but it didn’t give Modric the right-to perpetuate it!

Modric unlawfully skipped the pre-season tour of the USA and therefore was already in BREACH OF HIS OWN CONTRACT. Levy was doing nothing apart from going by the letter of the law, upholding the legalities of it, like he would for ANY player of his. Rather that than have renegade players calling the shots and still leaving afterwards a la Berbatov.

Would you go into your boss’ office calling the shots on your pay or giving HIM an ultimatum on possibly leaving for a ‘bigger’ employer without so much as a sit-down and a chat??? Yes, you’d have engineered your own sacking, but there’d be no positive reference for the next employer who takes you on…if any. Football is a business just like whatever company you may work for.

Levy as you know isn’t one to shy away from brinksmanship and he wins most of the time. Resistance is futile. If Madrid wanted Modric so much, they would have paid the FULL asking price. As it stands, they are ‘peacocking’ about how they can have any player they want for half the price because they’re Real Madrid. They are Real alright, but they’re also ‘Mad’ to think that Daniel Levy would’ve got ‘Rid’ for a fraction of the price.

Modric, thank you for your service, good luck in the future. You will need it at Madrid.

Harry Redknapp has confirmed, for the thousandth time that Luka Modric is not for sale. As both the player and Chelsea don’t seem to understand this I have taken the liberty of translating that message into various languages, maybe they’ll understand one:

The message is in Croatian, Russian, Binary and Morse code. Hopefully that will help get the message across. As Harry has rightly stated “We know he wants to leave and whether he writes it down on a piece of paper doesn’t really make any difference to our stance. He’s a great player and we don’t want to lose him”.

Should we decide to do any business with regards to selling Modric, it should by no means be with any of our competitors. Our competitors of course are anyone in the EPL who could afford him. If he must go, sell him to Barcelona or Real Madrid and try to get some kind of player exchange. Personally though I believe we could do well in the league again this year and if we keep Modric, he may well decide that actually, the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.

As if you didn’t already know, our want away midfield maestro, Luka Modric is declaring that we should understand his situation and sell him.

Now first things first, if you want to move on and be sold in 6 months time, don’t sign a 6 year contract extension!

Secondly, why would he want to go to Chelski when they clearly undervalue him, at less that half that of Torres? If he were to be sold to Chelski then we should value him as Chelsea valued Torres, in which case we should demand no less than £60m as Luka is the better player of the two. Luka needs to understand before he goes off on a rant that we won’t sell him for pennies to our rivals. It’s all well and good demanding we sell him to Chelski but if they don’t match our valuation then he won’t be going anywhere!

Now having said that, I would hope, should Levy decide to cash in on Modric, that we would absolutely not sell to our rivals, and let’s face it, our rivals are anyone in the Premier League who could afford him. So that just leaves the top European teams. If he has to go, I would not want him weakening our team and strengthening our rivals at the same time.

It’s a shame that Modric can’t realise, Chelski aren’t a top club…they’re an established money pot. How he holds a team with no history, tradition, loyalty or class in such high regard I don’t know. Their repeated attempts and successes at illegally tapping up players is quite frankly disgusting. These days it seems players just get money confused with ambition…much like Wayne Rooney.

Personally I would rather see Modric rot in the reserves for 6 years then see him playing for another premiership team.

Last night to the delight of all of us, Levy confirmed that Luka Modric will not be sold, irrespective of any transfer fee, no matter how high.

Levy confirmed “We had a very good conversation and, as I’ve said previously, Luka Modric will not be sold. This isn’t about money – we’re not selling our best players”. This was music to my ears.

So why then, less than 24 hours after putting the issue to rest, do the daily mail still claim Modric will leave. The chairman, and therefore the man who controls who comes and goes, has confirmed he is going no where.

It seems that the daily mail remain hell bent on selling our Modric to anyone, but specifically Chelsea. It’s gone beyond good (and by good, I mean awful) press now, and is getting to the point where I wouldn’t be surprised if Chelsea were paying the daily mail to do the tapping up.

It is common knowledge that the daily mail are possibly the biggest culprits in the media world for making up transfer stories, especially where Spurs are concerned. They need to understand that nobody takes their transfer stories seriously and it would bode them well to get out of their office and actually find a newsworthy story with some truth attached to it.

It seems sky sources have told us that Modric has confirmed he wants to leave Spurs, during crunch talks that didn’t actually happen as he is still on holiday. Hmmm. So are Sky leading the way for the ‘lets sell Tottenham’s players on their behalf’ party? Bale has reportedly declared he wants to go to Citeh, which I don’t see happening.

Surely with Tevez declaring he wants to leave Citeh, the top 4 is all for the taking, as without the Argentine, City are but a fraction of the force they are with him. L’arse seem poised to sell their best players in Fabregas and Nasri whilst Chelsea are still rueing being conned £50mil for Torres.

The end is not nigh, the future is not so dark. If we can convince Modders and Bale that we are genuine contenders and can reinforce that with 1 or 2 top quality signings, then we have a good, nay, an excellent chance of finishing top 4 again, and like our Super Pav suggested this week, we could even come 3rd.

I’m not saying it’s going to be easy. Europa League is a huge drain on players but if we play it right and reinforce where necessary with quality, then we have a very real chance of another Champions league place.

We also need to shape up our mentality against ‘weaker’ opponents’ The dreadful loss of points from games against sides in the bottom 5 cost us not only a top 4 spot, but if you look at the amount of points we actually lost…potentially the championship.

So, top quality signings, retain our best, and shape up our mentality. The chances of this actually happening…about the same as winning a marathon blindfolded; Possible…but I can’t see it happening.

Luka Modric’s agent, Mario Mamic, is today the third major figure to declare that the Croatian magician will be staying at Spurs after telling Croatian newspaper Jutarnji List “Luka will not go to Manchester United and he will also stay at Tottenham because I know that president Daniel Levy will not let him go”.

Daniel Levy and Luka himself have also stated that he is staying at Spurs and that he is happy, not to mention that he is on a 6 year contract. Hopefully this can put an end to the Daily Mail spurting rumours and trying to coerce Modric to leave.

Some of the figures being mentioned for Modric’s services would also be daylight robbery. Mamic’s father, vice-president of Dinamo claimed “I heard that somebody has offered £20m pounds for Luka but that’s crazy. When we talk about Modric, that price would only be enough to buy peanuts”.

I, like almost all Spurs fans absolutely do not want Modric to leave as I believe he is our best player by far; and certainly not for silly season sums like £20m. If Lescott for £24m is anything to go by, then Modric must be worth 5 times that! Torres, the £50m man…that scored once…against West Ham…when it was so wet the defenders couldn’t stand up, would surely match Modric’s value and I would be shocked if a bid of less than £50m was accepted for Luka.

Personally I would not accept any offer from Modric and continue to state that he is not for sale at any price, but would you sell him if a high enough offer came in and what would you sell him for if so? Comments and Opinions?

Harry speaks with renewed confidence, but do we really need the former Chelsea man ?

At first it seemed too good to be true. Joe Cole, one of Harry’s former fledglings at West Ham, Premiership superstar and England regular – released by Chelsea and available on a free !

Harry showed an immediate interest, plastered all over the papers and a regular topic on Sky Sports News, the former Chelsea man was only destined for one place ……. White Hart Lane.

All of a sudden, interest cooled and Redknapp was all over the back pages telling everyone how he thought Joe had already agreed a deal with another club.(Thought to be Man Utd or Arsenal) The world cup began and our attentions turned elsewhere.

Then, out of the blue, the links resurface and only yesterday Harry was back talking to the press about his renewed hope over the deal and how he’d deploy Cole in his Spurs side and how he could become an integral part of our Champions League challenge!

The question I’d like to pose is this – Do we really need Joe Cole? …

Before you slate me in the comments box below, don’t get me wrong …… I think Joe Cole is a terrific player …… it’s just that he’s very similar in stature and ability to a few players already on our books and with the sums of money being bandied about, I wonder if we’d be better off spending the signing on fee (probably huge!) and wages in strengthening other areas of the team ?!?!?

When you consider the long term futures of players like Ledley and Woody and their chances of playing any kind of extended run in the side over the coming 12 months, you have to wonder if a Champions League quality centre half is more of a priority or more worthy of stretching the wage structure for? Kaboul, Bassong et all are all good partners for Daws in the Premier league, but would you be confident seeing them named in the starting XI for a big CL match at the Nou Camp? …… Probably not !!!

Modric, Kranjcar (to an extent), Gio Dos Santos and Lennon have all shown in recent times that they can, and are comfortable playing off a front man or in the hole just behind, and Modric and Gio are both more than capable of doing a good job out on the left. Therefore, where would Joe Cole fit in? …… And at the expense of who?

My preference would be to see Gio (get his head down) deployed on the left and Modric to play in the hole, or even in a more central position. If I had Cole and Modric in the same squad I’d be picking Luka first all day long …… would Harry do the same, or would we see the Croatian schemer heading for the White Hart Lane exit?

Tomorrow is England v Germany in what is a massive must win game, the streets will be dead for 90mins, you will hear cheers from houses on your street should England score. There surely is nothing like the World Cup to unite the nation. Well with the nation united I am now probably going to divide us Spurs fans with one not so simple question. Defoe or Klinsmann.

Following on from my previous blog on Modric or Ginola (you can still have your say here Modric or Ginola) I have decided as it is the long awaited World Cup revenge match between England and German that I would do the same again but with a present Spurs legend Defoe and another historic Tottenham legend in Jurgen Klinsmann.

Klinsmann scored a total of 30 Premiership goals for Tottenham in 2 seperate spells in the 90s. His first spell came in 1994/95 where he scored on his debut against Sheffield Wednesday followed by the infamous Klinsmann dive celebration. Klinsmann finished the league season with 21 goals and won the footballer of the year award before his controversial departure to Bayern Munich, much to the disgust of then Spurs chairman Sir Alan Sugar. In a twist of fate Klinsmann returned to the club in the 1998/99 season for a loan spell towards the end of the season where he helped save Tottenham for relegation with 9 goals in 15 games, most noticably 4 goals agaisnt Wimbledon.

Jermain Defoe joined the club in 2004 following the relegation of his then club West Ham United. Like Klinsmann, Defoe has also had 2 spells at the club. His first spell from 2004 to 2008 saw Defoe net 43 goals in 139 games, however although not as good as Klinsmann’s record, you need to take into account that Defoe fell out of favour with Martin Jol and made a lot of appearances from the subs bench. Defoe unlike Klinsmann was sold to Portsmouth but it was more the clubs decision rather than Jermain wanting to leave, if he had been playing on a regular basis he would no doubt have wanted to stay. Harry Redknapp was the appointed manager and resigned Defoe in 2009 and to the present day Defoe still plays his football at the lane, so far scoring 21 goals in 42 games.

Although both players are from a different era although not too far apart, which one would you want in your team today if both were still playing. Although because he is English and is at Tottenham at present I am swaying towards Defoe although something tells me Klinsmann was the more complete striker and had more to his game than Defoe. So I think if someone put a gun to my head and made me make a choice I would although a tough decision opt for Jurgen, but only just. Lets see what you guys think, and remember if you want to have your say on the Modric or Ginola article you can find it here Modric or Ginola.

Stay tuned as I will be doing more of these in the future, it’s not nice to have to chose between iconic Spurs players but then again who ever said I was nice.

Harry Redknapp has revealed his delight after Luka Modric pledged his future to Tottenham by penning a new deal. The Croatian midfielder has been strongly linked with a move away from the club with Manchester United known to be keen but he has now ended all the speculation by penning a contract. Redknapp never had any doubt about the 24-year-old’s future and has also paid tribute to chairman Daniel Levy for securing the deal. “He has always been happy at the club. He is a fantastic player, he is a great lad,” he told Sky Sports News. “He comes in every day and trains hard, works hard. He is low maintenance. “To have him tied up for six years, the chairman has done a marvellous job in doing that deal with him. He [Modric] could play in any team in the world in my opinion and you have got to keep your best players.

Well it seems that Luka Modric will not be leaving, we know the big clubs want him but they can only offer him the same as us now which is champions league football.

Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp has quashed talk that he will sell playmaker Luka Modric, stressing that the Croatian is not for sale.

Modric has been linked with a £25 million move to Manchester United following a successful campaign with Spurs, helping them qualify for the Champions League.

Redknapp is looking to challenge at the top of the Premier league and in Europe next term, and is therefore not interested in allowing one of his most influential players to depart White Hart Lane this summer.

He said in The Sun: “There’s no chance of it happening at all. Luka’s key to everything that’s happening at this place.

“Everybody knows what I think of him. And if you want to move on to higher levels you don’t start flogging off your best players – to anyone.

“I have an excellent squad and – I stress – Luka Modric is going to remain a part of it.”

Redknapp is determined not to lose another of his stars to United following the departures of Michael Carrick and Dimitar Berbatov to the Red Devils in recent seasons.

It has been suggested that Spurs are also interested in Manchester City’s Stephen Ireland and Bolton defender Gary Cahill, but Redknapp denied the reports.

The club has also been linked with a move for Aston Villa defender Curtis Davies after Martin O’Neill claimed he is open to talks over the 25-year-olds future.